Ski season is fast approaching, prompting a warning from the Foreign Office to millions of British skiers that it will not bail out people who get into trouble on the slopes.

Susan Crown, head of consular communications, says: 'It is important to know that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office cannot pay medical bills if you are hospitalised abroad nor can we fly you home – and unexpected medical costs or returning to the UK can be expensive.'

Two British ski-related deaths and 197 'significant' incidents were reported at overseas resorts in the past year.

Ski season is fast approaching, prompting a warning from the Foreign Office to millions of British skiers that it will not bail out people who get into trouble on the slopes

The true figure could be higher, as this only relates to incidents logged by ABTA – the association for travel agents and tour operators.

Nearly 1.5 million British people are expected to go on a skiing or snowboarding trip this season, which starts before Christmas and peaks in the first three months of the New Year.

Anyone who has an accident and needs to be airlifted off a mountain will face medical bills of thousands of pounds if they do not have travel insurance.

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For example, a holidaymaker who last year had a serious fall while skiing would have faced a £90,000 medical bill as a result of fracturing a rib and puncturing a lung if she had not got insurance.

This involved a two-week stay in hospital and a doctor escort on the return flight to the UK.

Travellers need to check that any insurance deal specifically covers winter sports – and look out for any strict rules they must comply with to guarantee protection. ABTA's Nikki White says: 'Many assume they are automatically covered for winter sports when they are not.'

What about EHIC?

Many people wrongly believe that they can rely on the cards dubbed EHIC if they fall ill or are injured on holiday in Europe, writes Simon Lambert.

But the benefits of having a European Health Insurance Card, or EHIC, are overestimated by holidaymakers.

A card gives you access to state-run medical care in the European Union, but 59 per cent of travellers surveyed by GoCompare this year wrongly believed it gave free medical treatment anywhere in the world.

In fact, EHIC means you will be able to access medical care for the same cost as local residents pay. This will be significantly less than you would pay without the card, and in some cases if the local state-run healthcare is free, then you won’t pay a thing.

Skiers and snowboarders should note that EHIC will not cover emergency assistance on the mountain, ambulance travel, or special travel back to the UK. They are advised to get good travel insurance and consider paying for mountain insurance sold alongside ski passes.

EHIC is valid in all European Union countries plus Switzerland, Iceland and Norway. If you are a UK resident you can apply for a card via the NHS website, it’s free and lasts for five years.

All adults (from age 16 upwards) need their own card and it will have an expiry date on the front, so before you go make sure yours is still valid.

There is also the question of Brexit hanging over holidaymakers. A transition period has been agreed after 29 March 2019, when the UK is due to leave the EU, and if this is enacted then all EU law will continue to apply to the UK during that period, so EHIC will still be valid.

The transition period depends on a withdrawal agreement being made, however, and that is what politicians are currently arguing about. In the even of a no-deal Brexit, EHIC may cease to apply.